Two Is Better Than One
by 8MidnightSwim8
Summary: TC is on its feet after two years of fighting for transgenic rights. Max and Alec fight to keep TC together and then there's everyone else. This is two years after "Freak Nation" and the raising of Josh's flag.
1. There It Is Again

Well, some need to knows are: Biggs is still alive because hey, I like him; this is set two years after "Freak Nation" and Joshua's flag raising, the government finally gave in and gave the transgenics semi-citizenship as long as they pretty much stay in TC; White is still out and about but they are working on getting him out of the picture; Lu is my OC and I'll explain more about her later, ok that's pretty much it, enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I so don't own Dark Angel if I did Jensen Ackles would totally be sitting with me in my bed right now, am I right?**

Chapter One: There It Is Again

Alec cautiously entered the Terminal City Command Center, keeping his eyes and ears wide open for any sign of a certain high-strung brunette that was sure to chew his head off for not doing his last couple reports. Sure enough as soon as he was sure the coast was clear, there she was in all her bitchy glory stalking towards him with a very pissed off look on her face. He sighed, and silently debated fleeing to his apartment before she could reach him.

Deciding that she would be even more pissed off if he did that, he slapped a smirk on his face and leaned casually against the wall, waiting for her Supreme Bitchiness (Mole's new nickname for her that had caught on rather quickly in TC) to reach him.

"Don't you smirk at me you lazy, conceited, smart-ass!" she fumed as she reached him.

"Ah, Maxie, always a pleasure," Alec answered easily.

Her expression faltered for a second, and then she resumed her furious expression.

"Where the hell have you been?"

This question threw Alec for a loop as he tried to figure out where exactly she was heading with that statement.

"I…well…I was in my apartment," he finally answered her.

"Oh, I see, so while I went out on the Recon. Mission that **you** set up and that **you **were in charge of but **you **didn't show up for," she got closer to him and poked him in the chest with every emphasized you and her chocolate colored eyes were ablaze, "You were in your apartment screwing some blonde bimbo no doubt leaving me, Biggs, and Lu to be chased down by White and have to sit in the sewers for hours before we could make it back here."

Comprehension dawned on Alec's face as he remembered all too well the mission he had set up to ah _acquire_ some extra medical necessities that the new head field-med, Hawk, had been bugging Max and Alec, her SIC (second-in-command) for every waking moment.

"Maxie, I'm sorry, look I wasn't with some blonde okay I was catching up on some sleep, while you may be Miss Shark DNA who needs no sleep, I on the other hand do," Alec replied a bit pissed that she automatically assumed the worst of him, "And you didn't have to be such a bitch about it, I mean why didn't you just come and get me?"

Max's eyes blazed, and anyone who was still in the command center hurriedly exited the room. The Two fearless leaders of TC were known for their fights around TC and how messy they always ended up. As Mole exited however he of course had to give his fair share.

"Princess, and Oh Fearless Leader of ours' don't forget about that 9:00 meeting in the board room in-between all this foreplay," and with one last smirk and the insertion of yet another cigar into his lizard-mouth he was gone.

Max's glare, which had been trained on the lizard man turned back to Alec.

"Don't look at me like that, I don't control Mole," Alec said raising his hands in mock surrender.

Max sighed, she was tired. There was no other way to put it. It had been a long day and she was still covered in the very powerful aroma of the lovely sewer system. So instead of continuing the argument further, she let it drop and she collapsed into a nearby chair.

"Whatever Alec, I'm sorry, just go, get some sleep or something."

Puzzled, Alec watched her as she turned to some nearby papers shuffling them around to make it look like she was doing something productive. Like, he didn't know her better than that.

"Come on Maxie, I'll walk you back to your apartment and you can get some sleep too," he finally sighed.

"Don't call me Maxie," she said half-heartedly, but let him pull her up and out of the room.

* * *

A petite, dark-haired X5 smirked as she watched her adoptive brother lead TC's leader out of Command. She shook her head as she caught his eye. He merrily smirked and continued the snarky banter he had going with said leader and Lu's best friend. There was a thin line between love and hate and Max and Alec had enough sexual tension to blow past that line in a heartbeat. But, they were both too damn stubborn.

Then, Lu suddenly got a blast of images in her mind, and she almost fell had it not been for someone strong and warm catching her. But, there was no time for recognition with the images speeding through her mind. When they were done she turned to Biggs, who had caught her.

"We've got about three minutes," she stated gravely.

Biggs' eyes went wide with recognition and he started barking out orders to people around Command. Alec and Max hearing the sudden shouting appeared in the room out of nowhere, all traces of the exhaustion of moments before gone as they came to stand in front of the small gray-eyed girl.

"Lu, what is it?" Max asked anxiously.

"Familiars, two minutes, bomb" Lu answered quickly.

Somehow, Biggs had managed to get Luke and Dix to send an alarm around TC and that was all they had time for. Then Lu grabbed him by the hand and started pulling him in a direction she was sure had less of a blow. Alec roughly through a struggling Max over his shoulder and ran after them along with some X6's and Mole.

Then there was a large boom, a white flash, and black, complete and endless black.

* * *

**Okay so, not the best start, I know a lot of people are going to be confused, but don't** **worry, I'll explain in later chapters about Lu and the bomb and all of the rest. Reviews are the best gift in the world******** I really don't care if they are bad honestly I mean if no one like what I wrote I'm obviously not going to want to continue this. So, let me know. If I have no reviews I'll drop the story. Okay well thanks a bunch for reading!**

***Haha oh and yes I named my OC after me, I know so original. **

**Lu**


	2. Of You, Me, and Us

***Wow four reviews in one day, I'm pretty excited, not gonna lie. Thanks so much y'all for reviewing I'm floating on cloud nine no kidding. So, because of your wonderful reviews I decided to get to work on my next chapter and this is what came out. And for my first four reviewers….**

**Max5452: Thanks so much for reviewing! I'm glad you like it and yes of course I shall keep going because of you're wonderful review.**

**Maron771121: Thanks for reviewing, it means the world to me that you loved it. **

**Januarysunshine13: You'll have to read and find out, hehe. Haha don't worry I pretty much explain in this chapter, it was supposed to be pretty unclear and hectic at the end of the last chapter because that's what I would imagine if a bomb went off. Ok thanks for reviewing darling. **

**452max: I'm so glad that you liked it so far! And yes of course Max and Alec are going to get together I don't think I could right a story with them and not have that happen. It's just going to take a while because we all know how stubborn both of them are. And Lu is turning out to be one of my favorite characters I've ever written so I hope everyone else likes her as well. I shall try and let you know when I update, I'm still not very good at navigating this site. Hehe I'm a bit computer deficient but I'll try!**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Dark Angel it would be completely and absolutely wonderful if I did. But alas, it is impossible. **

* * *

**Of You, Me, and Us**

Lu groaned in pain as she came out of unconsciousness. All she could feel was dirt, grime, and pain. Then there was the dead weight of a body on top of her that she was finding to be very annoying.

_Body, dirt, grime? _At that thought the events of what just happened came flooding back to her and her eyes snapped open. The vision she had of White's men setting up a bomb in one of the sewers underneath command, the explosion, everyone running for cover. Tears came to her eyes and she tried to see if she could see anything around her, _see anyone_, she thought miserably.

Lu, along with every other transgenic in Terminal City, was given gifts by Manticore. But, unlike everyone else she knew things. She didn't know how she knew these things. She just always did. Sometimes they would come in vision types of things and sometimes it would just be something that she knew for a fact was going to happen. Manticore had given it to her for her field work and utilized her in every way possible, it was like she was psychic but in a scientific way.

It was hard to see anything but grayness and debris. Not to mention the ever present weight of someone on top of her so that she could not possibly have a good look around her.

Sighing, Lu tried to make sure the rest of her was at least in one piece. Something, blood more than likely, was trickling down her face but the rest of her seemed to be movable. Then, she tested trying to move the person on her off. She tried to focus on the fact that the person may just be unconscious and not dead. Finally succeeding, she rolled onto her back and then with a great amount of effort sat up and examined the body.

Right away she realized who it was, recognizing the black hair, and muscular build of Biggs, who had been like an over-protective brother to her for the past two years. Frantically, she checked his heart beat and gave a sigh of relief when she found a pulse. Then she got to work on wiping away a bit of the debris covering his face. He looked pretty peaceful, that is until his eyes snapped open and he trained those intense brown eyes of his on her gray ones.

All of the sudden he popped up and grabbed her by the front of her shirt pulling her lips into his in the hottest kiss she had ever received. It was anything but soft as he crammed his tongue into her mouth and she let him. When they finally pulled apart both of them were gasping for air.

"I have to say," Lu's voice came out a little breathy, "I definitely didn't see that one coming."

Biggs smirked and then slowly pulled himself to his feet and offered her his hand. She took it and then they gazed around at what used to be their command center.

There was absolutely nothing moving besides dust and the slight swaying of the metal staircase that used to lead to Max and Alec's office that was barely still hanging from the ceiling. Some of the dust settled and Lu could make out a few mounds on the ground covered in gray debris that were most likely bodies, whether they were alive or not, she didn't know.

After a moment Lu grabbed Biggs' hand and pulled him behind her as she made her way to where she knew Max and Alec were. She had to make sure they were ok. That was the one thing she didn't know. And Lu knew everything.

* * *

Max had absolutely no idea what happened, all she remembers is Alec throwing her over his shoulder and then a boom and hitting something incredibly hard. Which would explain the splitting headache that she had and the fact that a man's, most likely Alec's, arm had securely wrapped around her body and pulled her into his side. As much as she hated to admit it, she felt very safe there, but, after a closer check and a successful identification that it was indeed Alec, made her very wary of that safe feeling.

Reluctantly, she tried to pull herself out of Alec's grasp but in vain, it was like he had her in a death grip. She sighed and then positioned herself so that she could smack the back of his neck. But as she tried to move a sharp pain shot through her right arm and she hissed in pain. It was definitely broken, she couldn't even move it.

Suddenly, Alec jerked up almost in a crouch keeping his weight off of Max and his arms on either side of her, he scanned the area around them like a predator looking for any threats.

"Alec," Max said softly.

He was still tensed but he let some of the tension go.

"Alec, it was a bomb, they aren't here, you need to get off of me so we can see if anyone's still…" Max trailed off and Alec seemed to go back to normal.

"Sorry," he mumbled, and rolled off of her.

Max sat up as best she could with her arm busted. Tears almost came to Max's eyes as she scanned the area around them. Command was pretty much gone. Her and Alec's office was pretty much the only thing left standing, although the staircase was hanging by a thread.

"Max, we have to go and look around, see if…" Alec trailed off and then cautiously stood up, favoring his left leg, "Do you think everyone who was not in command is okay? I mean, how much time has passed since the explosion you'd think most of them would be in here trying to see if we're okay."

"I don't know Alec, I mean where's Mole, Biggs, Lu, all of them were right next to us," Max answered quietly.

"Max!"

"Alec!"

Both Max and Alec spun in the direction of the voices and saw petite Lu running towards them covered in grime and blood, pulling a dirty Biggs behind her by the hand.

Lu's dark hair was still pulled back in her trademark pony-tail and her gray eyes were alight with worry. It was strange to see a normally happy girl look so upset and worried.

Lu crashed into Alec and gave him and bone-crushing hug and then the same for Max.

"You guys okay?" Biggs asked.

"Pretty much," Max answered keeping her broken arm out of the way.

Lu turned her piercing gaze to Max and raised her eyebrows.

"Right, you're pretty much fine," Lu said sarcastically, "That's why you can barely move your right arm."

Max gave Lu a death glare and then snuck a look at Alec who was already trying to get a good look at her arm.

"It's fine!" Max shot at him as she smacked his hand away, "Look we've got to find everyone else okay?"

"Right," Alec said as he shifted his intense hazel eyes to get a good look around them.

"We should probably see who's….still alive," Biggs added quietly.

Then they set off with Lu leading them to where Dalton and Mole were. She wasn't sure what state they were in but at least they had something to go on. However small that glimmer of hope that finding each other gave them. It was going to be a long day, or night, they weren't exactly sure at the moment.

* * *

**Well, that turned out….mmmm….let's just say that it did not turn out quite how I wanted it to. But expect the next chapter to turn out much better. I mean, at least y'all got to see what happened a little bit, right? **

**All I can say is review, even if it is to just reiterate how bad this chapter turned out. Sigh. **

**Lu **


	3. Sort Of Kind Of Miss You

**Ah, yes the past two chapters have been rather short, (shuffles feet sheepishly) I'm sorry, but the next couple are going to be longer, I just needed to get started.**

**Thanks so much for the reviews y'all are wonderful and continue to make my day when I check Fanfiction in my Anthropology class.**

**Maron771121: Haha yeah, like two minutes. Can you tell which movie I was watching while writing this? If you can I'll give you a prize. No but really they technically had three minutes before it was supposed to happen, but between her telling Biggs and Max and Alec walking up it was really two.**

***Eh just to let everyone know, in case it wasn't clear, the bomb just went off in the sewers under command, not all of TC, so people outside of command probably felt it but command got the full blow, anyways that is why everything isn't on fire and all of that fun stuff because it just felt the effects of the explosion underneath them.**

**Disclaimer: Well, if I owned Dark Angel I would be very rich right now, and seeing how I can barely buy myself dinner and I'm living off of easy-mac and pop-tarts that is highly unlikely.**

* * *

I'd Sort Of Kind Of Miss You

Lu managed to find a very grumpy Mole, then Dalton who had kept a few X6's safe, Hawk, the red-headed medic who had been in Command to collect the supplies that Max's team had gotten for her on the mission, Luke and Dix who had managed to shield themselves from the brunt of the explosion by tunneling into a nearby passageway that they had somehow managed to find in the spare minute before the explosion, they had taken Red, Jo, Lil, Duke, Gem and Brady, all X5's who had been in Command at the time of the explosion.

Not to mention the five or six people that she had led them to that were either dead or unconscious. It was hard to leave the unconscious where they were but they needed to find a way out, so that they could bring medics in and to do that they did not need anyone slowing them down. They had found two transhumans: Dil, a small transhuman with a bit too much cat in his cocktail, and Hal: a bird transhuman who had been a very good sniper.

Max had a tough time walking past those dead bodies, transhuman or not, they were still her family. Tilly, a young X7 was found near where Lu and Biggs had been, she was still alive but had broken a leg and gotten part of a pole through her leg, pinning her to the ground. She had told them to head on and then passed out. Hawk had really wanted to stay and help the young girl but Alec had decided it would do much more good to go and figure out a way to get out than to sit there and lose Tilly as well just because they did not try and get help. They then came across two more X5's that had bared the brunt of the explosion and had died pretty much instantly, according to Hawk. Shawn and Char who had been making sure pretty much everyone else got out of the way and didn't make it out themselves. Max and Alec shared a look that was an understanding that they would have to honor the two brave X5's after they got out of there.

Although everyone else was a sorry sight as well; blood, burns and dirt covered them from head to toe, they were all just happy to be alive. Lu still had blood caked on her face because of a nasty cut that ran from her cheekbone to just above her right eyebrow. Max could barely move her arm but seeing as they were just walking, she didn't see why she should make a fuss about it. Everyone else was either limping or sporting a nasty gash of their own, some unfortunately had both.

Luke was sure that they had managed to evacuate the rest of Command but it was hard to tell who was missing until they could find out how to get out of the destroyed building.

"Why don't we just move all of the debris out of the way?" Brady, a blonde-haired blue-eyed burly X5 asked finally as they stood in front of the command entrance-way, "We are transgenics, shouldn't be too hard."

"We have to think about it more, I mean we don't know if that crap is holding the entryway together," Alec answered him, he was staring at the big pile of debris covering the entrance with a contemplative look that was very un-Alec like.

"Right," Hawk started, "Well, while you boys come up with a solution to that I'm going to try and see if I can fix anyone's injuries."

Lu poked her head over the shoulders of Biggs and Alec.

"Max, her arm's broken," she said brightly and then went back to strategizing with the boys.

Max glared at Lou and smacked a smirking Alec on the back of his head with her good arm before plopping down on a table that had survived the explosion to let Hawk examine her.

"Stop squirming around, you can go and help them in a second," Hawk said angrily to Max, "I don't care if you are CO, when you're injured you're in my control."

"You can't do anything until we get out of here anyways!" Max exclaimed.

:Yes I can, I need to make sure your arm's not healing wrong," Hawk retorted, " The bones could be growing back wrong and with our healing abilities I would have to re-break the bone and set it right."

"Whatever," Max mumbled, giving in.

* * *

"What's up with you and Lu?" Alec asked Biggs while they carried a piece of heavy metal railing to the pile by another wall.

Biggs felt his face get a bit red and then after they dropped the metal ran his hands through his hair.

"Well.."

"No kidding, did you kiss her or something?" Alec asked, his trade-mark smirk playing at his lips.

"Er, well,"

"Damn Biggs, did she see it coming and then slap you or something?"

"Well, no, not exactly," Biggs answered with a grin, and then walked away from a surprised Alec.

* * *

They managed to get a lot of debris cleared away until they finally reached a point where they thought one person could get out at a time. On the other side they had finally managed to communicate with people. Joshua was currently helping to pull people out of the small hole in the wall of debris. Hawk had gone back to collect Tilly and surprisingly found her alive but just barely.

After the survivors had managed to get out of their death-trap plans immediately went into motion to rebuild their command center and to retaliate against White.

In the meantime, they had set up a temporary command center with some computers that they had managed to acquire with the help of Logan Cale, or as he's more commonly known as, Eyes Only. He had been worried about Max ever since he heard about the bomb and had just arrived at TC as the survivors exited the old command building. Mole, at the sight of him, shot a look to Alec that said, you had better get that Ordinary out of here before I do it myself.

Alec made sure that Max was in Hawk's hands, not that she put up much of a fight. Then, after making sure the rest of them went with the medics, and the main questions that the rest of TC had were answered, he stalked over to Logan who had been trying to make his way to TC's "hospital."

"Where do you think you're going Logie boy?" Alec asked brightly.

Logan eyed Alec as he tried to side-step him.

"Max just went to the hospital, I'm going to see if she's alright, if that's alright with you," Logan retorted, "Not that I need your permission, you may be her SIC but I am her boyfriend."

"Oh, so you two's on-again-off-again is on-again hmm?"

Logan rolled his eyes and tried to push past him again. But Alec was having none of it.

"Look, Cale, we just got blown up in our own Command by White and his idiotic Familiars, had to sit in there and see a few of our family members dead, and not to mention we're all pretty torn up ourselves, so why don't you back off, and give Max some space so that she can actually breathe, you may be her boyfriend, but I'm her best friend, I know that right now, she really just does not want to be bothered."

After Logan noticed Biggs standing just to the left of Alec and Mole who was just to the right, he seemed to decide that waiting was probably a good idea.

"Whatever, but tell Max that I'll be in to see her in an hour."

"Sure, whatever you want, Logie boy," Alec grinned as Logan scowled and then stalked, or whirred away in his exo-skeleton.

"Good job Princess," Mole said gruffly.

* * *

Alec was in such a good mood about getting Logan out of the way he didn't even notice Mole's annoying nickname.

"Eh, Max, your boyfriend was here, I told him that he should wait until you can at least get your arm fixed to storm the castle and rescue you, the damsel in distress," Alec smirked at Max and Hawk who was fixing her arm as he strolled into the makeshift hospital room.

Max's face fell a little at the mention of Logan.

"What, Maxie is your boyfriend not satisfying your needs?" Alec asked I mock concern, "You know, I could help out with that if you wanted.."

She smacked his arm but it seemed a bit lighter than normal, and she had a glimpse of a smile at her lips.

"Alec just shut up before you get your ass handed to you," Hawk commented not looking away from her work.

Alec pouted.

"Aw but Hawk, I just love to get beat up by our Fearless Leader," he said saluting lazily in Max's direction.

"How is that arm by the way?" Alec asked as he plopped down on the hospital bed next to Max, who shot him a death glare, which he ignored.

"It's better than I thought it would be," Hawk answered, "It pretty much started healing the right way so I won't have to reset the bones."

"Eh, well, that's good."

"Right, well, I think that'll be good Max, I have to go and see about Tilly really quickly, she's stabilized but I just want to go over a few things," Hawk said as she grabbed her lab-coat and left, leaving Max alone with Alec.

Oh how he love Hawk sometimes.

Max shifted uncomfortably and then settled herself with her head against the wall behind them and her feet propped up on the stool that Hawk had been sitting in moments before.

"So, you and Logan on the outs or something?" Alec asked casually.

Max yawned and then closed her eyes.

"Alec, since when do I tell you anything about our relationship?"

"Aww, Maxie, you know I'm your best friend," Alec pouted.

Max opened her eyes just to roll them.

"Whatever," she said and then after a few minutes of silence, "He asked me to move out of TC with him now that everythings settled down, give up my position to you and make Lu or Biggs SIC."

Alec, who had closed his eyes as well, shot up in alarm and turned to look at her.

"Well…uh….that's cool….," Alec finally managed to choke out, "What did you say?"

Max smiled and then opened her eyes as well. She looked so tired except for a glimmer of amusement that was hiding just inside of her eyes.

"I told him that TC is my home, and I could never possibly leave it or the people inside it that I consider my family," she answered after a few moments of silence, "And that I would miss too many people and my role as leader here."

Alec nodded and they both went back to their positions that they had been in before. Then Alec suddenly grinned and turned toward her.

"So..who exactly _would _you miss?"

Her eyes shot open and she turned to look at him with weary eyes.

"Well, Lu, Biggs, Dalton, Luke, Dix, Josh, Hawk, I guess Mole…..and…."

Alec raised an eyebrow and his smirk came back to permanently reside on his face. Max struggled for words for a few more minutes until she sighed and seemed to give up, closing her eyes again.

"Alright, fine I'd miss you too," she mumbled.

He let that sink in and was surprised at how good it made him feel that Max actually did kind of care about him.

"But don't be getting your hopes up smart-ass you're still not off the hook for missing the mission, I'm still gonna beat your ass," Max added sleepily.

His smirk fell, but then he grinned again and sat there smugly next to her.

"I knew you had a fascination with my ass," he commented.

And then there was an "oompf" and a "thud" as Alec fell onto the floor.

"Ow, you didn't have to push me off the table," Alec grumbled from the floor.

Max merrily smirked and fell into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

*Well, slightly longer I guess. Honestly it will get easier to write more once I actually get into the story. The first two chapters weren't even close to the beginning, it was just something to start that White v. transgenics thing again. Because we have to have some angst along with the Alec/Max and Lu/Biggs, am I right? Or am I right?

Anyways, thanks for reading and review, review, review!!

Lu


	4. Matters of Graves and Closets

**So, so, so sorry for the long wait people who might be still reading this. I had a soccer game on Thursday and Friday so I haven't been home. One was in North Carolina and one was in Virginia so I've been constantly on buses. I had time to write but no time to post. So I had more written for this chapter but I didn't like how it was going. I always have an inkling about what I'm going to write about but then let it develop as I'm writing so sometimes things just don't come out how I originally anticipated.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel...only my laptop and this sub that I am currently eating.

* * *

Chapter 4: Matters of Graves and Closets

It was raining, what a stereotypical thing to happen at a funeral. The mood of the day was exemplified by the dreary feeling that the weather brought on. After they managed to make it back into the command building they had found three more dead transgenics. One of them was a particularly hard blow, a young X6by the name of Dom. Everyone took that one pretty hard. The kid had always been quite the comic and ran around cheering people up and wreaking havoc with his jokes and pranks.

Max and Alec stood in front of the large crowd of people, Alec holding the umbrella over both of them. The graves of Dom, Shawn, Char, Hal, Dil and the other couple of transhumans that they found later on. Alec was sure that Max was barely holding it together, God forbid she lose her tough-love reputation by crying for her people in front of the rest of TC.

It was a sad day for everyone, all of the dead were being mourned greatly on that day. Lu was taking it especially hard. She kept going through it in her mind. Thinking of all the possibilitiesof what she could have done to help. She could have evacuated all of them earlier, she could have helped them get to a safe spot before running for safety for herself, she could have…

"Lu, stop," Biggs commanded quietly from behind her, and suddenly the rain wasn't drenching her anymore as Biggs had covered her with his umbrella. She gave him a questioning look but he just shrugged and gave her a pointed look then turned his attention to Max and Alec who had started talking. Biggs had never been one for many words he was more the 'quiet but deadly' type.

"Three days ago, we lost some of the best," Max began over the sound of the rain beating down on the surrounding buildings, "The twins were the picture of bravery right up until the end while they made sure most of the people were out of the main part of command before they could even try and make it out."

"Dom, the little bugger, was always cracking jokes, keeping the mood light, even when we were surrounded by rioters and sector cops two years ago, he was always on the bright side of things," Alec continued for her, "Hal, oh Hal, he could hit a target from the top of an 80 story building to down the block with his eyes closed. The birdman was one of my best friends."

"Delilah, Dil, Hal, and the rest, they were some of the best," Max finished almost quietly.

"All of them will be missed, and I swear to my grave that we will get revenge on White for the brave soldiers who died in the explosion," Alec finished with his eyes flashing.

The entirety of TC gathered for the funeral stood there a second longer and then they began to slowly trickle away until there was only Dalton, Gen, Eve, Lu, Biggs, Max and Alec.

"Dom was my best friend," Dalton stated.

It looked as if he was trying really hard not to cry.

"We did everything together," he continued, "He asked me to come into command that morning to pull a prank with him, I told him no because I wanted to go and see Gem. What if I had gone? Would he still be alive? Would it have been me in his place?"

Alec glanced at Dalton's face and saw that the kid was blank, it was like he was just talking, like he didn't know anyone else was there.

"Kid, let it go, it wasn't your fault," Alec told him gently.

Dalton, as Alec's hand touched his shoulder seemed to come back to earth.

"He's right Dalton, Dom would not have wanted you blaming yourself or mourning, he would have wanted you to keep on pranking and laughing," Gem added, handing Eve, her young daughter who was two years old to Dalton.

He looked at Eve who was poking his shirt and laughing. Dalton smiled a little bit and then let Gem pull him away from the grave and out of the rain. That left Lu, Biggs, Alec, and Max.

"Well this was depressing," Lu commented dryly.

Biggs put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a weak smile. Max and Alec weren't paying attention, Max was staring at the twins' gravestones and Alec was staring at Max.

"Right, well let's go Biggs," Lu said quietly as she got a glimmer of a smirk on her face.

Biggs looked at her questioningly but let her pull him by the hand into a nearby building.

"They're about to have a moment," Lu said happily, "Come on I think we can see from here."

"You had to pull us into the janitor's closet," Biggs said exasperatedly.

"I didn't even notice," Lu said airily but she smirked to herself.

"Right," Biggs said noting her smirk.

There was no room to squeeze next to her at the window so he put his hands on either side of her and stood behind her. She was so short that he had no problem seeing over her head. They watched as the two stood in the pouring rain, Alec still holding the umbrella.

"I thought you said they were going to have a moment," Biggs said right next to her ear.

Lu shivered at the closeness of him.

"Well..uh…they uh…." Lu stuttered as Biggs got closer and closer to her and then he brushed her hair away from her neck and kissed it.

"We um….um…should probably…" Lu tried to get out but found herself incapable of speck as Biggs continued to kiss down her neck and upper back.

"What the hell," she mumbled giving in and spinning around to capture Biggs' lips with hers.

Needless to say they didn't come out of the janitor's closet for quite some time. Again, Biggs was more the silent but deadly type.

* * *

Meanwhile………

Max and Alec stood staring at the graves of the dead transgenics. Both of them felt that they could have done something to stop the Familiars from exploding Command.

_If they had just went after White._

_If he had just killed White when he had the chance._

Then Logan walked up with his umbrella.

He shot a look at Alec's arm around Max's shoulder and scowled. Max looked up as he got closer and the tears she had been letting fall only in Alec's presence were quickly wiped away.

"Max, you should get out of the rain," Logan said to Max holding out a hand to her.

They had found the cure to the virus about a year after the Jam Pony incident.

Max glanced at the hand and then at Alec. She wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do, go with Logan and have him continue to try and convince her to leave TC, or stay with Alec in the rain and have him tease her for staying, the ladder sounded surprisingly more appealing. Especially with Alec's closeness and raised body heat keeping her warm.

_Woah there girl._

"Max, come on, they're dead you can't do anything about it now, " Logan added moving to grab her arm.

Alec subtly pulled her a bit out of his reach and waited for her to reply.

"Logan, I think I'm going to stay longer, Alec and I need to talk about what we're going to do about all of this."

Logan's eyes went wide as he glanced from Alec to Max and back.

"Well, I could help you out," Logan managed to get out, "I need a favor from you anyway with Eyes Only."

Alec couldn't believe Logan was asking Max to help with Eyes only crap. She would say yes too, because God forbid she not help the man with the Save the World complex. But the problem was he didn't want her to go, not with White at large against the Transgenics yet again.

"Well.." Max started.

"Max, that wouldn't be a very good idea, not with White blowing up command, I mean you'd be a sitting duck outside of TC by yourself."

Max scowled at him but then turned back to Logan.

"Alec's right Logan, a mission would not be a good idea, not that I'm afraid," Max assured quickly, "But I also need to be here as much as possible to get TC back on its feet."

"That's why you have an SIC, how many times have you told me that Alec is completely capable of the position you've given him and you trust him more than anyone else?" Logan tried.

Alec's gaze shot to Max in surprise at that comment._ Since when did she trust him and think he was capable? He was the resident screw up, wasn't he?_

"Yes, I do," Max agreed, "But, I am the leader of TC. It is my responsibility and I love TC Logan, I told you that."

"Oh, right," Logan said sarcastically, "So Alec almost kills you and me and you can forgive him but you're still angry with me about asking you to leave TC."

"Logan," Max said wearily, "Please don't sarte this now."

"No, Max, I don't get it!" Logan continued, "HE can do whatever he wants and you'll forgive him."

"What do you want me to say Logan? He's my best friend!" Max yelled, "I trust him, yea, he did some stuff that wasn't too good, but he never would have actually killed me and that virus both things he had no choice."

"Just admit it, I'll never be as trustworthy in your eyes as he is!"

Alec had a feeling both parties had forgotten he was still there.

"Logan, look he's my best friend, he's Manticore we just understand each other."

"Right, well, count me out of that 'understanding,' Logan said and walked away.

Mas and Alec stared after Logan for a while.

"Uh, Max," Alec finally said nervously.

_Nervously, when has Alec ever been nervous?_

"Alec just shut up," Max said calmly.

"No seriously, we have to talk about this," Alec said, " I mean, I'm always just kidding when I call you my best friend but now that I think about it you are. That is I trust you, even more than Biggs and Lu."

"Well obviously I feel the same way," Max said grudgingly.

"Good so we're best friends," Alec continued.

"Yup."

They stood there for a moment longer.

"Come on, let's go to my place and dry off we can talk about White and all of that there," Alec said but noticed Max's hesitation, "I have cake, chocolate cake."

A smile formed on Max's lips for the first time that day and she nodded. Alec grabbed her hand and they made their way out of the rain, passing a certain janitor's closet. As they were about to go by it they heard a loud noise and exchanged looks. Stealthily, they stood on either side of the door, Alec drew his gun and they exchanged a few signals. Then Max kicked the door open and Alec trained his gun on the two people inside.

"Jesus Christ!" Lu yelled, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Alec and Max, surprised, merrily stood there staring at Lu and Biggs. Lu was against the wall with Biggs in front of her and her legs wrapped around his waist. A moment ago, they had been making out rather heatedly. While Max and Alec stood there in shock staring at Lu and Biggs who were calmly sitting in the same position.

"Do you think you could lower that gun Alec, cuz it's making me nervous," Lu grumbled, "And as long as you two are done standing there staring at us we'd appreciate it if you'd shove off."

Alec lowered his gun and then Max seemed to come out of her stupor.

"Oh, right, well, Lu I'll talk to you later," Max said pointedly and pulled Alec out the door with her.

"Well that was interesting," Max said after a moment of her and Alec walking in silence.

"Yeah, no kidding," Alec grumbled, "She's like my little sister and some guy was basically ravaging her right there!"

"Alec, it wasn't just some guy, it was Biggs, you know he's not going to hurt her alright?" Max retorted.

He ran a hand over his short dark-blonde hair and then nodded.

"Yeah, you're right."

"I guess we'd better go to your apartment now, we have to come up with something to do about White," Max said changing the subject.

"Okay, yeah let's do that," he said, then he smirked, "Maxie you look like a wet kitty."

Max scowled, "Don't call me Maxie," and hit him on the back of his head.

But Alec noticed the slight smile at the corners of her mouth and shook his head. Then he put his arm around her shoulders again and led her to his apartment.

* * *

Well, was it worth the wait? I don't know how I feel about it quite yet. Sigh, well review please!!!

Lu


End file.
